Extraterrestrial Life in the Thermosphere: Plasmas, UAP, Pre-Life, Fourth State of Matter

“Plasmas” up to a kilometer in size and behaving similarly to multicellular organisms have been filmed on 10 separate NASA space shuttle missions, over 200 miles above Earth within the thermosphere. These self-illuminated “plasmas” are attracted to and may “feed on” electromagnetic radiation. They have different morphologies: 1) cone, 2) cloud, 3) donut, 4) spherical-cylindrical;and have been filmed flying towards and descending from the thermosphere into thunderstorms;congregating by the hundreds and interacting with satellites generating electromagnetic activity;approaching the Space Shuttles. Computerized analysis of flight path trajectories documents these plasmas travel at different velocities from different directions and change their angle of trajectory making 45°, 90°, and 180° shifts and follow each other. They’ve been filmed accelerating, slowing down, stopping, congregating, engaging in “hunter-predatory” behavior and intersecting plasmas leaving a plasma dust trail in their wake. Similar life-like behaviors have been demonstrated by plasmas created experimentally. “Plasmas” may have been photographed in the 1940s by WWII pilots (identified as “Foo fighters”);repeatedly observed and filmed by astronauts and military pilots and classified as Unidentified Aerial—Anomalous Phenomenon. Plasmas are not biological but may represent a form of pre-life that via the incorporation of elements common in space, could result in the synthesis of RNA. Plasmas constitute a fourth state of matter, are attracted to electromagnetic activity, and when observed in the lower atmosphere likely account for many of the UFO-UAP sightings over the centuries.

Experimental confirmation of the linear relation between plasma current and external vertical magnetic field in EXL-50 spherical torus energetic electron plasmas

A three-fluid equilibrium plasma with bulk plasma and energetic electrons has been observed on the Xuanlong-50(EXL-50) spherical torus, where the energetic electrons play a crucial role in sustaining the plasma current and pressure. In this study, the equilibrium of a multi-fluid plasma was investigated by analyzing the relationship between the external vertical magnetic field(B_(V)),plasma current(I_(p)), the poloidal ratio(β_(p)) and the Shafranov formula. Remarkably, our research demonstrates some validity of the Shafranov formula in the presence of multi-fluid plasma in EXL-50 spherical torus. This finding holds significant importance for future reactors as it allows for differentiation between alpha particles and background plasma. The study of multi-fluid plasma provides a significant reference value for the equilibrium reconstruction of burning plasma involving alpha particles.

Numerical studies for plasmas of a linear plasma device HIT-PSI with geometry modified SOLPS-ITER

The HIT-PSI is a linear plasma device built for physically simulating the high heat flux environment of future reactor divertors to test/develop advanced target plate materials.In this study,the geometry-modified SOLPS-ITER program is employed to examine the effects of the magnetic field strength and neutral pressure in the device on the heat flux experienced by the target plate of the HIT-PSI device.The findings of the numerical simulation indicate a positive correlation between the magnetic field strength and the heat flux density.Conversely,there is a negative correlation observed between the heat flux density and the neutral pressure.When the magnetic field strength at the axis exceeds 1 tesla and the neutral pressure falls below 10 Pa,the HIT-PSI has the capability to attain a heat flux of 10 MW·m-2 at the target plate.The simulation results offer a valuable point of reference for subsequent experiments at HIT-PSI.

Studies on the motion and radiation of interior plasmas in gas-filled hohlraums with different laser entrance hole sizes

An experiment on 100 k J laser facility is performed to study the motive features and radiation properties of plasmas from different areas inside gas-filled cylindrical hohlraums.These hohlraums are designed to possess one open end and one laser entrance hole(LEH)with different diameters,which would or not result in the blocking of the LEH.An x-ray streak camera that is set at 16 degrees with respect to the hohlraum axis is applied to acquire the timeresolved x-ray images from the open end.Based on the images,we can study the evolutions of the wall plasma,corona bubble plasma and LEH plasma simultaneously through an equivalent view field of hohlraum interior.Multi-group flat response x-ray detectors are applied to measure the x-ray fluxes.In order to understand these characteristics,our two-dimensional radiation hydrodynamic code is used to simulate the experimental results.For the accuracy of reproduction,dielectronic recombination and two parameter corrections are applied in our code.Based on the comparison between experiments and simulations,we quantitatively understand the blocking process of LEH and the motion effects of other plasmas.The calibrated code is beneficial to design the gas-filled hohlraum in a nearby parameter space,especially the limit size of LEH.

Abnormal transition of the electron energy distribution with excitation of the second harmonic in low-pressure radio-frequency capacitively coupled plasmas

The self-excited second harmonic in radio-frequency capacitively coupled plasma was significantly enhanced by adjusting the external variable capacitor.At a lower pressure of 3 Pa,the excitation of the second harmonic caused an abnormal transition of the electron energy probability function,resulting in abrupt changes in the electron density and temperature.Such changes in the electron energy probability function as well as the electron density and temperature were not observed at the higher pressure of 16 Pa under similar harmonic changes.The phenomena are related to the influence of the second harmonic on stochastic heating,which is determined by both amplitude and the relative phase of the harmonics.The results suggest that the self-excited high-order harmonics must be considered in practical applications of lowpressure radio-frequency capacitively coupled plasmas.

Nonlinear dynamics of the reversed shear Alfvén eigenmode in burning plasmas

In a tokamak fusion reactor operated at steady state,the equilibrium magnetic field is likely to have reversed shear in the core region,as the noninductive bootstrap current profile generally peaks off-axis.The reversed shear Alfvén eigenmode(RSAE)as a unique branch of the shear Alfvén wave in this equilibrium,can exist with a broad spectrum in wavenumber and frequency,and be resonantly driven unstable by energetic particles(EP).After briefly discussing the RSAE linear properties in burning plasma condition,we review several key topics of the nonlinear dynamics for the RSAE through both wave-EP resonance and wave-wave coupling channels,and illustrate their potentially important role in reactor-scale fusion plasmas.By means of simplified hybrid MHD-kinetic simulations,the RSAEs are shown to have typically broad phase space resonance structure with both circulating and trapped EP,as results of weak/vanishing magnetic shear and relatively low frequency.Through the route of wave-EP nonlinearity,the dominant saturation mechanism is mainly due to the transported resonant EP radially decoupling with the localized RSAE mode structure,and the resultant EP transport generally has a convective feature.The saturated RSAEs also undergo various nonlinear couplings with other collective oscillations.Two typical routes as parametric decay and modulational instability are studied using nonlinear gyrokinetic theory,and applied to the scenario of spontaneous excitation by a finite amplitude pump RSAE.Multiple RSAEs could naturally couple and induce the spectral energy cascade into a low frequency Alfvénic mode,which may effectively transfer the EP energy to fuel ions via collisionless Landau damping.Moreover,zero frequency zonal field structure could be spontaneously excited by modulation of the pump RSAE envelope,and may also lead to saturation of the pump RSAE by both scattering into stable domain and local distortion of the continuum structure.

Effect of gas flow on the nanoparticles transport in dusty acetylene plasmas

This article presents simulation results on the effects of neutral gas flow for nanoparticle transport in atmospheric-pressure,radio-frequency,capacitively-coupled,and acetylene discharge.The acetylene gas is set to flow into the chamber from the upper showerhead electrode.The internal energy of the gas medium therein is transferred into kinetic energy so the gas advection can be triggered.This is represented by the pressure volume work term of the gas energy converse equation.The gas advection leads to the gas temperature sink at the gas inlet,hence a large gas temperature gradient is formed.The thermophoresis relies on the gas temperature gradient,and causes the profile of nanoparticle density to vary from a double-peak structure to a single-peak one.The gas advection influences the properties of electron density and temperature as well and causes the drift-ambipolar mode profile of electron density asymmetric.In the bulk region,i.e.away from the inlet,the gas advection is more like one isovolumetric compression,which slightly increases the temperature of the gas medium at consuming its kinetic energy.

Study of the 6.x nm short wavelength radiation spectra of laser-produced erbium plasmas for BEUV lithography

Beyond extreme ultraviolet(BEUV)radiation with a wavelength of 6.x nm for lithography is responsible for reducing the source wavelength to enable continued miniaturization of semiconductor devices.In this work,the Required BEUV light at 6.x nm wavelength was generated in dense and hot Nd:YAG laser-produced Er plasmas.The spectral contributions from the 4p–4d and 4d–4f transitions of singly,doubly and triply excited states of Er XXIV–Er XXXII in the BEUV band were calculated using Cowan and the Flexible Atomic Code.It was also found that the radiative transitions between multiply excited states dominate the narrow wavelength window around 6.x nm.Under the assumption of collisional radiative equilibrium of the laser-produced Er plasmas,the relative ion abundance in the experiment was inferred.Using the Boltzmann quantum state energy level distribution and Gram–Charlier fitting function of unresolved transition arrays(UTAs),the synthetic spectrum around 6.x nm was finally obtained and compared with the experimental spectrum.The spatio-temporal distributions of electron density and electron temperature were calculated based on radiation hydrodynamic simulation in order to identify the contributions of various ionic states to the UTAs arising from the Er plasmas near 6.x nm.

Extreme ultraviolet spectral characteristic analysis of highly charged ions in laserproduced Cu plasmas

This paper reports the results of spectral measurements and a theoretical analysis of the temporal and spatial evolution of laser-produced Cu plasma in vacuum in the range of 8–14 nm.The time dependence of the extreme ultraviolet band spectrum at different positions near the target surface was obtained and found to be dominated by three broad-band features.The 3p and 3d excitations of Cu5+–Cu9+ions were calculated using the Hartree–Fock theory with configuration interactions.The characteristics of the spectral line distribution for the 3p–nd and 3d–nf transition arrays were analyzed.Based on the steady-state collisional radiation model and the normalized Boltzmann distribution,the complex spectral structure in the band of 13–14 nm is accurately explained through consistency comparisons and benchmarking between the experimental and theoretical simulation spectra,demonstrating that the structure mainly stems from the overlapping contribution of the 3d–4f and 3p–3d transition arrays for the Cu5+–Cu9+ions.These results may help in studying the radiation characteristics of isoelectronic series highly-charged ions involving the 3d excitation process.

Efficient combination and enhancement of high-power mid-infrared pulses in plasmas

High-power intense optical sources in the mid-to-long wavelength infrared region are very attractive for a wide range of fields from fundamental research to materials science and biology applications.However,there are still significant challenges in extending long-wavelength infrared pulses into the relativistic regime using conventional optical techniques.Here,based upon a new type of plasma-based optical method,we present an efficient scheme capable of combining several high-power long-wavelength infrared laser pulses into one single,more intense pulse,thus bringing the intensity of the output pulse to the relativistic regime.Such intense infrared pulses will open up new possibilities for strong-field physics and ultrafast applications.Furthermore,this is beneficial to understand the underlying physics and nonlinear processes of modulation,propagation and energy transfer of high-power intense laser pulses in plasmas.

Nonlinear mixing-based terahertz emission in inclined rippled density plasmas

We propose to investigate the THz field generation using nonlinear mixing mechanism of laser beat wave with inclined rippled density plasmas.Two laser pulses with frequencies(ω_(1),ω_(2)) and wave vectors(k_(1),k_(2)) co-propagate and resultant laser beat wave forms at beat frequency(ω_(1)-ω_(2)).Laser beat wave imparts a nonlinear force on the ambient electrons and pushes them outward with nonlinear velocity v_(NL).Coupling of induced density perturbation and nonlinear velocity v_(NL)generates nonlinear currents at laser beat frequency that further generates electromagnetic field E_((ω_(1)-ω_(2))) in terahertz(THz)range.In the present scheme,density ripples are introduced at an angle with respect to laser propagation and flat Gaussian index(f) is introduced in laser field profile that transform curved top of Gaussian field envelope into flat top field envelope.The combined effect of flat laser pulses with inclined density ripples in plasmas shows 10-fold enhancement in THz field amplitude when flat-Gaussian index(f) varies from 1 to 4.Also,the THz field intensifies when density ripples inclination increases upto a certain angle and then decreases.

Investigation of radial heat conduction with 1D self-consistent model in helicon plasmas

A 1D radially self-consistent model in helicon plasmas has been established to investigate the influence of radial heat conduction on plasma transport and wave propagation.Two kinds of 1D radial fluid models,with and without considering heat conduction,have been developed to couple the 1D plasma-wave interaction model,and self-consistent solutions have been obtained.It is concluded that in the low magnetic field range the radial heat conduction plays a moderate role in the transport of helicon plasmas and the importance depends on the application of the helicon source.It influences the local energy balance leading to enhancement of the electron temperature in the bulk region and a decrease in plasma density.The power deposition in the plasma is mainly balanced by collisional processes and axial diffusion,whereas it is compensated by heat conduction in the bulk region and consumed near the boundary.The role of radial heat conduction in the large magnetic field regime becomes negligible and the two fluid models show consistency.The local power balance,especially near the wall,is improved when conductive heat is taken into account.

Features of transport induced by ion-driven trapped-electron modes in tokamak plasmas

As an obstacle in high-performance discharge in future fusion devices,disruptions may do great damages to the reactors through causing strong electromagnetic forces,heat loads and so on.The drift waves in tokamak are illustrated to play essential roles in the confinement performance as well.Depending on the plasma parameters and mode perpendicular wavelength,the mode phase velocity is either in the direction of electron diamagnetic velocity(namely,typical trapped electron mode)or in the direction of ion diamagnetic velocity(namely,the ubiquitous mode).Among them,the ubiquitous mode is directly investigated using gyro-fluid simulation associating with gyro-fluid equations for drift waves in tokamak plasmas.The ubiquitous mode is charactered by the short wavelength and propagates in ion diamagnetic direction.It is suggested that the density gradient is essential for the occurrence of the ubiquitous mode.However,the ubiquitous mode is also influenced by the temperature gradients and other plasma parameters including the magnetic shear and the fraction of trapped electrons.Furthermore,the ubiquitous mode may play essential roles in the turbulent transport.Meanwhile,the relevant parameters are scanned using a great number of electrostatic gyro-fluid simulations.The stability map is taken into consideration with the micro-instabilities contributing to the turbulent transport.The stability valley of the growth rates occurs with the assumption of the normalized temperature gradient equaling to the normalized density gradient.

A fast hybrid simulation approach of ion energy and angular distributions in biased inductively coupled Ar plasmas

In this work,a two-dimensional hybrid model,which consists of a bulk fluid module,a sheath module and an ion Monte-Carlo module,is developed to investigate the modulation of ion energy and angular distributions at different radial positions in a biased argon inductively coupled plasma.The results indicate that when the bias voltage amplitude increases or the bias frequency decreases,the ion energy peak separation width becomes wider.Besides,the widths of the ion energy peaks at the edge of the substrate are smaller than those at the center due to the lower plasma density there,indicating the nonuniformity of the ion energy distribution function(IEDF)along the radial direction.As the pressure increases from 1 to 10 Pa,the discrepancy of the IEDFs at different radial positions becomes more obvious,i.e.the IEDF at the radial edge is characterized by multiple low energy peaks.When a dual frequency bias source is applied,the IEDF exhibits three or four peaks,and it could be modulated efficiently by the relative phase between the two bias frequencies.The results obtained in this work could help to improve the radial uniformity of the IEDF and thus the etching process.

Time-resolved K-shell x-ray spectra of nanosecond laser-produced titanium tracer in gold plasmas

A study of a nanosecond laser irradiation on the titanium-layer-buried gold planar target is presented. The timeresolved x-ray emission spectra of titanium tracer are measured by a streaked crystal spectrometer. By comparing the simulated spectra obtained by using the FLYCHK code with the measured titanium spectra, the temporal plasma states, i.e.,the electron temperatures and densities, are deduced. To evaluate the feasibility of using the method for the characterization of Au plasma states, the deduced plasma states from the measured titanium spectra are compared with the Multi-1D hydrodynamic simulations of laser-produced Au plasmas. By comparing the measured and simulated results, an overall agreement for the electron temperatures is found, whereas there are deviations in the electron densities. The experiment–theory discrepancy may suggest that the plasma state could not be well reproduced by the Multi-1D hydrodynamic simulation, in which the radial gradient is not taken into account. Further investigations on the spectral characterization and hydrodynamic simulations of the plasma states are needed. All the measured and FLYCHK simulated spectra are given in this paper as datasets. The datasets are openly available at http://www.doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.j00113.00032.

Runaway electron dynamics in Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak helium plasmas

The generation of runaway electrons(REs)is observed during the low-density helium ohmic plasma discharge in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak(EAST).The growth rate of hard x-ray(HXR)is inversely proportional to the line-average density.Besides,the RE generation in helium plasma is higher than that in deuterium plasma at the same density,which is obtained by comparing the growth rate of HXR with the same discharge conditions.The potential reason is the higher electron temperature of helium plasma in the same current and electron density plateau.Furthermore,two Alfvén eigenmodes driven by REs have been observed.The frequency evolution of the mode is not fully satisfied with the Alfvén scaling and when extension of the Alfvén frequency is towards 0,the high frequency branch is~50 kHz.The different spatial position of the two modes and the evolution of the helium concentration could be used to understand deviation between theoretical and experimental observation.

Relativistic Corrections to the Maxwellian Distribution for Astrophysical and Fusion Plasmas

We present calculations and improvement inspired by the work of Lorenzo Zaninetti, published in 2020, it concerns a problem whose origin dates back 1911 with so called Maxwell-Jüttner distribution these lies on the Lorentz factor , with . This work uses powerful modern software for a reconstruction of Zaninetti work, which computes with special functions, these are included in the Mathematica software, as by instance Bessel and Meijer G-functions ready to manipulate. A progress is made, it is possible to perform an integral that is not computed in Zaninetti paper. This author connects the correct relativistic probability law: the Maxwell-Jüttner to the synchrotron emissivity with a magnetic B field, this work generalize these results, using the linear Stark effect and deals with an electric field E.

Effect of polarization force on the Jeans instability in collisional dusty plasmas

The Jeans instability in collisional dusty plasmas has been analytically investigated by considering the polarization force effect. Instabilities due to dust-neutral and ion-neutral drags can occur in electrostatic waves of collisional dusty plasmas with self-gravitating particles. In this study, the effect of gravitational force on heavy dust particles is considered in tandem with both the polarization and electrostatic forces. The theoretical framework has been developed and the dispersion relation and instability growth rate have been derived, assuming the plane wave approximation. The derived instability growth rate shows that, in collisional dusty plasmas, the Jeans instability strongly depends on the magnitude of the polarization force.

Review of quantum collision dynamics in Debye plasmas

Hot,dense plasmas exhibit screened Coulomb interactions,resulting from the collective effects of correlated many-particle interactions.In the lowest particle correlation order(pair-wise correlations),the interaction between charged plasma particles reduces to the DebyeeHu¨ckel(Yukawa-type)potential,characterized by the Debye screening length.Due to the importance of Coulomb interaction screening in dense laboratory and astrophysical plasmas,hundreds of theoretical investigations have been carried out in the past few decades on the plasma screening effects on the electronic structure of atoms and their collision processes employing the DebyeeHu¨ckel screening model.The present article aims at providing a comprehensive review of the recent studies in atomic physics in Debye plasmas.Specifically,the work on atomic electronic structure,photon excitation and ionization,electron/positron impact excitation and ionization,and excitation,ionization and charge transfer of ion-atom/ion collisions will be reviewed.

Impact of the Insulator on the Electric Field and Generation Characteristics of Vacuum Arc Metal Plasmas

The field electron emission plays a vital role in the process of vacuum discharge breakdown. The electric field strength at the cathode tip is significant to the generation char- acteristics of vacuum arc metal plasmas. To increase the field strength at the cathode tip, a coaxial electrode plasma source was employed with an insulator settled between the electrodes. The math expression of the field strength is derived based on the Gauss theory. The impact of the insulator on the electric field and parameters of plasmas were investigated by MAXWELL 3D simulation software and the Langmuir probe. In addition, a composite insulator was adopted to further strengthen the field strength. A series of experiments were performed to focus on the role of the composite insulator in detail. The experimental and simulation results indicate that, a reasonable layout of the insulator, especially the composite insulator, can effectively increase the field strength at the cathode tip and the plasma density.